1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dryer fixing device, and more particularly to a device for fixing a dryer for use in a cooling appliance such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner, and the like, in which the dryer is fixed on a condenser having a plurality of pipe parts disposed in parallel with each other.
2. Prior Art
Generally, the cooling appliance such as a refrigerator or an air conditioner has a compressor for compressing refrigerant, a condenser for radiating heat from the compressed refrigerant, and an evaporator for generating cool air by evaporating the refrigerant. The refrigerant which circulates in the compressor, the condenser, and the evaporator contains a lot of impurities such as humidity, dirt, metal, oil, etc. Such impurities circulate together with the refrigerant, and freeze inside a pipe at the area where the temperature is abruptly lowered, whereby the flow of the refrigerant is interrupted. Thus, the cooling efficiency of the cooling appliance is lowered by such impurities. In particular, when there is a variation of the refrigerant which has become low in temperature and high in pressure by the condenser to the refrigerant of low temperature and low pressure by a capillary tube, if the impurities cannot pass through the capillary tube because of the frozen impurities or because of the large size of the impurities, the refrigerant cannot circulate and then the cooling operation stops. To prevent such a phenomenon, the cooling appliance is equipped with a dryer for filtering the impurities in the refrigerant between the condenser and the capillary tube.
The dryer performing such a function is fixed at a side part of the condenser by a fixing device. FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are a perspective view of a fixed state of a dryer by a conventional dryer fixing device. The condenser 10 consists of a pipe 11 wound to have a shape of a coil, and brackets 12 combined at both ends of the pipe 11. The dryer 14 is fixed at one of the brackets 12. The pipe 11 of the condenser 10 is connected at one side of the dryer 14, and the capillary tube which is not shown is connected to the other side thereof.
The dryer 14 is fixed to the condenser 10 by a fixing device. Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 1B, a band 15 is generally used for the fixing device. The band is formed with a ring 16 at one end thereof which has a stopper 17 protruded therefrom, and a plurality of holes 18 for controlling a banding degree are formed at the other end part thereof. The bracket 12 of the condenser 10 and the dryer 14 are wound altogether by the band 15, and then the end part which is formed with the holes 18 is inserted into the ring 16. In such a state, if the end of the band 15 which has been inserted into the ring 16 is pulled, the band 15 tightens the dryer 14 to the bracket 12. Then, the stopper 17 is inserted into the hole 18 formed at one end part of the band 15, whereby the band 15 is maintained tight and the dryer 14 is fixed on the condenser 10.
However, such a conventional dryer fixing device has a problem that the fixing procedure is not easy since the processes for fixing the dryer 14 comprise many steps. That is, in order to fix the dryer 14, the user contacts the dryer 14 with the condenser 10 and winds the band 15 at first, then the user should insert the end of the band 15 into the ring 16 and pull it. Thus, the process for fixing is complex and time-consuming.
Furthermore, if the dryer 14 fixed on the condenser 10 needs to be amended or replaced with a new one, since the stopper 17 is not withdrawn easily from the hole 18, it is hard to untie the band 15, so the band 15 should be cut to release the dryer 14 from the condenser 10. Therefore, the band 15 cannot be re-used, and it should be replaced with a new one.